You Can Do It Now, Thanks To Pediatric Eye Clinic

Welcome to the midlife version of Simon Says, a nearly universal condition known as presbyopia, which translates roughly to "elderly eye" (as if crow's feet weren't enough). It usually starts in your early 40s, as the lens of the eye stiffens, losing its ability to focus and making it difficult to see objects up close, explains Ruth D. Williams, M.D., president-elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. There are four million new cases a year, and the number will keep growing as the population ages, with people holding their books and menus farther and farther from their eyes.

While presbyopia comes on gradually, it may feel very sudden: One day even squinting isn't enough to make out a text-message, or you can't thread a needle. An ophthalmologist or optometrist can make the official diagnosis — and determine what to do about it — by having you read the eye chart while looking through lenses.

If you've never had eye trouble before, you may do fine with nonprescription reading glasses (the kind you can buy in drugstores). But as you struggle to see objects that are closest to you, you'll likely need your vision corrected professionally. And if you enter midlife with an existing vision issue, you may now need a new prescription — possibly progressive lenses, which give you multiple corrections within one lens (unlike the old bifocals, which only corrected for far and near distance).

So, if you haven't had your eyes examined recently, make an appointment. You should have a baseline exam by age 40, says the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and then schedule follow-up checks as often as your doctor recommends.